Instructional Contentdevelopment and design

Instructional courses I've created include:

30-lesson/four-part Art History Practicum for watercolor painters24-lesson Drawing and Watercolor Foundation CourseArchitectural drawing for childrenLive performance programs in music history including Out Under the Sky (a history of the Christmas Carol),American Folk Songs for Children, and song formComplete ​6th grade curriculum in Elements of Music and Music HistorySongwriting workshops and short courses for college campuses and ElderhostelsGuitar for beginners of all ages90-day online group transformational life coaching courseIntroduction to natural and energetic healing modalitiesMultiple courses on history and usage of essential oilsIntroduction to Astrology and the Tarot

Samples of content

How to Draw a House​Excerpt from Drawing Primer

​Before you start to draw any building, look at the subject. Before you put pen or pencil to the paper, take a breath and observe.

Can you see the roof? How many sides of the building can you see? How high is the door in relation to the overall height of the building wall? Where do the windows sit in relation to the sides of the walls and the rooflines? How far is the distance from the ground to the gutter in relation to the distance of the gutter to the ridge of the roof? You may start to notice how different parts of the house relate to each other.

Now, how are you going to fit the marks you make to represent the house onto your piece of paper? Will your drawing fit best on a vertical or horizontal page?​I'm not talking about higher mathematics here — just about ballpark measurements and relationships. Let your pencil help you.

Notice the perpendicular pencil and locked elbow in the diagram. If this guy tips his pencil forward or backward, or bends his elbow, his measurements will change. Try it yourself. Unless a building is on its way to falling down, all of the vertical lines are parallel to the sides of your paper. That includes the sides of your doors, windows and walls. Make a few of those marks for reference.

Hey! You've started drawing! Now make small reference marks on the page for the highest and lowest part of the house as well as the right and left sides.

If you're looking straight on to one wall of a house, chances are you can make the horizontal lines parallel to the bottom and top edges of your paper. Use the edge of your paper as a guide.

After that you are dealing with slanted lines and angles. That's when your lines can get a little funny.

Your pencil can help you with the slanted lines and angles, too. Hold your paper up in the air beside the house you're drawing, lay your pencil along any slanted line on the house in question, then — without changing the slant of your pencil — move it over to your paper to see how the angle falls in relation to the vertical and horizontal lines you've already made. Make little guide marks so it's easier to draw a nice line when you put your paper back in a more comfortable position.

Remember to keep looking at what you're drawing. It's right in front of you. You don't have to imagine anything. Just look and draw.

I guarantee that while you are drawing your house you will see things that you never noticed before! You may notice the relationship of design elements.

As you draw, keep checking the relationships of the width and height of various elements like windows, doors, porches and railings. This will help keep you from running out of room.

Feel free to stop drawing now and then to relax and simply look at the house. This will help to combat fatigue.

You may find that parts of your drawing are not perfectly true to the house itself. At that point, commit to the drawing and make it the best drawing you can.

If you don’t know what to do next, stop! You may be finished! Any artist will tell you that a perfectly good piece of work was ruined by one too many strokes.

If you're not used to drawing buildings, follow these directions and practice a little bit. Learn by doing.

Try starting by sketching a box. Move the box into different positions and make additional sketches.

Like medicine, law, and meditation, drawing is a practice. Like every patient, case, and sitting, each drawing is different. Throw the idea of perfection (what is that?) out of your mind, have fun drawing, and you'll do the best you can.

​Appreciate the personality in each attempt then move on to the next drawing!

Anything you want to share about your experience doing the attached assignment (including frustrations, elations, funny stories or whatever you'd like us to know), please write out in the message field of your email. The more I know, the more I can help you. The more you share, the more you help the entire class.

Send email with attached photo to: drawandwatercolor.home@blogger.com

TIPS ON PHOTOGRAPHING/SCANNING

Please make sure that you present the entire page of your assignment. Photograph or scan and post the entire page on which your drawing or watercolor is made.

Use one sheet of paper for each exercise unless otherwise demonstrated or indicated.

Photograph in natural light whenever possible,though not in direct sunlight. You will rarely, if ever, get a proper "white" of the page in photography. When you photograph indoors, the incandescent, florescent or other artificial light source will dramatically affect the color of the white paper.

Be conscious of the image in your viewfinder. For example, you can line up the edges of the paper along the edges of your viewfinder (or edge of your smart phone display) in order to keep your sheet of paper straight in the photograph.

Be conscious of the light source through your camera viewfinder or on your actual piece of paper. Be careful to not photograph your own or your camera's shadow!

For now, learn to live with imperfect images. Most of the time (if you follow the above guidelines), I'll be able to read your images well enough. When you start fussing with images in photoshop (or other image editor), you will often lose the subtleties of your mark making.

TIPS ON SIZING, SAVING AND SENDING IMAGES

All photos, drawings, watercolors are referred to as "images."

Whether you scan or photograph your images, in whatever program (application) you save them:

Learn where the "Save" or "Save As" option is. On a mac, it's under "File" in the menu bar.

Always save images as JPG (jpeg).

Learn where to adjust size of image. For example, in the Preview application, under "Tools" in the menu bar, select "Adjust size." In Photoshop application, under "Image" in the menu bar, select "Image Size."

Always check the resolution and size of images.

All image sizes should be in PIXELS (not inches).

For our purposes (and for attaching multiple photos to your emails), the longest side of image (whether height or width) should be 600 pixels.

The resolution should be 72 dpi.

When you have sized your images no larger than 600 pixels on longest size, at 72 dpi, and saved as a JPG (jpeg), then simply attach that saved photo to your email, write any comments you wish to share in the message field, address the message to: drawandwatercolor.home@blogger.com and hit send!

VIP: If you are emailing images from your mobile device... please choose "medium" size when prompted.

HOW TO CREATE YOUR GOOGLE PROFILE

Why create a Google Profile?So that your classmates and I can see your name and pretty face with your comments and postings. Think of it as wearing a name tag, but less sticky.

Remember, this is a private site and only your coursemates and I can see you.

Go to https://accounts.google.com

Click on "Create profile"or "Edit Profile."

If given another option on a new page, click "Create My Profile."

Enter your First name, Last name, select gender and then click on "Add your photo."

The easiest thing to do is to drag a photo of yourself to the large square on screen.

Google will set an edit frame on your photo to size it as square.

Select your favorite part of the photo and click "Set as profile photo."

You'll be given an option to save. Save it.

Thank you for sharing your name and image with us.

It's more fun when we can see even a glimpse of each other (but you don't have to create a Google Profile or add a photo if you don't want to).

Introduction to Human Energetic Systems ​an excerpt from one module of group transformational life coaching course: Life is the First Art

All human energetic systems are like highways for the life force. When the pathways or elements of any energetic system are clear and open, our life force zooms through allowing us radiant health and well being. When these pathways or elements are congested or blocked, energetic traffic jams ensue, causing us distress and disease.

Although some of the energy systems I refer to in this module are entering the mainstream, most are considered alternative, esoteric or metaphysical. These systems are considered such because they cannot be seen by the naked eye and do not fit the constructs of the current mainstream medical practice.

Life is energy, not blood and bones.

I am focusing on the basic, classic Chakra system for practice and exercise in this module. However, I want to introduce and briefly allude to a few other systems and energetic practitioners.I leave it to you to investigate these practitioners and systems on your own through books and websites. Links are provided here and on the Resource page for your benefit. We could easily spend 7 months on energetic healing alone!

The Chakras are based in the Hindu tradition. The physical locations of the chakras are associated with the major plexus of arteries, veins and nerves. Each chakra is associated with particular organs and glands.

When we work with the chakras, the life force is referred to as the Kundalini. The traditional image of Kundalini is a serpent, sometimes two, arising from the base of the spine and spiraling, or weaving, up through the chakras to either the third eye or crown chakra. The root of the sanskrit word for Kundalini, is Kundal, meaning coiled up, so the life force energy is imagined as being coiled up at the root of the spine and, with a clear chakra system, that energy can be released, sending the life force throughout the physical and energetic body. Hence, the serpent image which is related to the Rod of Asclepius.

Barbara Brennan was an atmospheric physicist who became deeply involved with energy work and healing. Brennan wrote what is considered to be the classic book on the "human energy field," Hands of Light: A Guide to Healing Through the Human Energy Field. This well-illustrated book describes energetic fields, energetic interaction between people, and methods of healing within the context of these fields.

Brennan's influences were in turn influenced by Wilhelm Reich who's work was based, first hand, on Freud's. I can't not mention that Reich, a highly controversial and influential trailblazer, was, after his move to the U.S., arrested by the FBI for his ideas and work, and imprisoned where he died in 1955.